Menu

Argument: Breastfeeding improves health of mothers

Issue Report: Breastfeeding in public

Support

Nancy Solomon. “Breastfeeding in Public Is a Basic Civil Right.” WEnews. August 7, 2002: “breastfeeding offers significant health benefits to nursing mothers, including reduced risks of breast and other types of cancers, as well as osteoporosis.”

“Breast Feeding Improves Mothers’ Health.” Diabetes Forecast. March 2010: “Breast-feeding isn’t just good for babies—it improves the health of moms, too. Researchers studied 704 women for 20 years and learned that lactation is linked to a decreased chance of having a cluster of risk factors associated with obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. Plus, the longer women breast-feed, the lower their risk. Women who didn’t have gestational diabetes lowered their risk by 39 to 56 percent, depending on how long they breast-fed. For women who had gestational diabetes, the risk was reduced even more: from 44 to 86 percent. On average, breast-feeding women have greater post-pregnancy weight loss and better fat distribution than those who bottle-feed, which may explain the findings.”

“How Breastfeeding Benefits Mothers’ Health.” Scientific American. April 30th, 2010: “Feeding infants with breast milk has been shown to improve baby health and even IQ, but the benefits of breastfeeding also appear to stay with mothers for years to come, lowering risks of cardiovascular disease and cancer.”